Comments on: Wanted: Retail [Wine] Therapyhttps://wineeconomist.com/2010/07/27/wanted-retail-wine-therapy/
Wed, 07 Dec 2016 14:31:35 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.com/By: Sean P. Sullivanhttps://wineeconomist.com/2010/07/27/wanted-retail-wine-therapy/#comment-1246
Wed, 04 Aug 2010 07:43:27 +0000http://wineeconomist.com/?p=2100#comment-1246The barriers to selling wine are truly depressing. Whenever I travel to a different area, I go and see what Washington wines are on the shelves. Inevitably the wines are from the large production shops. Part of this is because many of the wineries in Washington are small. However, part of it is because of the difficulties of selling wine state-by-state.

It was a real eye-opener to travel to Vancouver, BC and see the Washington wine there at 100%+ markup. About two hours from Seattle, it would cost you over twenty Canadian dollars to buy a bottle of Red Diamond Merlot that would cost me $8-10. As a result, Canadians don’t really see our wines up there even though they are relatively close. Similarly, we don’t see BC wines much here in Washington. What a pity.

]]>By: Danielhttps://wineeconomist.com/2010/07/27/wanted-retail-wine-therapy/#comment-1227
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:17:03 +0000http://wineeconomist.com/?p=2100#comment-1227I remember seeing a huge window display of Chateau Ste. Michelle in a London wine shop back in 1995, and it made me laugh.

The problem here is because prohibition didn’t ‘end’, the feds just gave the states the right to regulate it. So we have 50 totally different laws. Amazon or someone could sell a lot of wine, but dealing with 50 states, taxes, regulations etc. make it impossible to manage. And it’s illegal in some states.

I think the problem is our love/hate relationship with alcohol.

]]>By: Shermanhttps://wineeconomist.com/2010/07/27/wanted-retail-wine-therapy/#comment-1226
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:53:32 +0000http://wineeconomist.com/?p=2100#comment-1226Having worked for a distributor in Arizona that specialized in representing 42 small- production, artisanal wine producers, I can give you some insight as to how difficult it was to break down the barriers that exist in trying to open up a harried restaurant owner’s perceptions, or to get just a few minutes of precious tasting time with a retail buyer.

Most of these people are crazy busy, especially given the state of the economy since late 07, early 08 (coincidentally, the distributor opened its doors in spring of 08; in retrospect, not the best time to open a new business based on “discretionary spending”), as most of them (those who survived layoffs, firings, downsizings and closures) are doing double- and triple-duty.

Now ask them to take a chance on a completely new (to them) winery, with little or no recognition outside of the Pacific Northwest. Now put that up against the “big boys” from around the world having to dump product that hasn’t moved in 18 months and are resorting to huge discounts, multiple “buy one, get three” offers, gifts, etc.

Factor in the decline of consumer spending in the on-premise (restaurant) segments of the marketplace and you begin to see how it’s not a friendly climate for risk, monetary or palate-wise. With all of that, the number of distributors has declined precipitously, the big distributors have pared their books to those lines that sell effortlessly and in large amounts; in the end, the small wine maker and the consumer have less choices available.

And all of this is just in the U.S., let alone how many other hoops must be jumped through (with attendant costs to every hoop) to get the vino across an ocean or two.

Oh, and the distributor who took a chance and tried to bring artisanal and small-production to a marketplace that had little experience with them? Sadly, they closed the doors in August, 2009, along with 5 other small- and medium-sized distributors in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area of Arizona.

Re: janice — most of the OR and WA producers that I know of (outside of the “big labels”) have pulled back and are trying to sell their wines through tasting rooms, member’s clubs and mailing lists. They would love to have other markets open to them and actually sell some wine, but don’t have the distribution to do so.

]]>By: janicehttps://wineeconomist.com/2010/07/27/wanted-retail-wine-therapy/#comment-1224
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:47:06 +0000http://wineeconomist.com/?p=2100#comment-1224On the subject of finding American wine in the UK, try finding Washington wine in the UK. No supermarket stocks it, and I can only recall once being able to find a bottle of Chateau Ste Michelle it at Oddbins about five years ago. Aside from that one encounter, Washington Wine is nonexistent on the British High St.

Of course Berry Bros stocks some bottles from Andrew Will, but £35 for a bottle is more than I typically spend. There are a couple of smaller online merchants that have the odd bottle, but nothing seemed that inspiring. I’ve resulted to bringing a case back with me each time I visit.

Harpers recently published a supplement on Washington Wine and their conclusion was that as Washington growers managed to sell all of their wine within in the US, they had no need to market it abroad. Do wish they’d change their minds!

]]>By: Crocodile Chuckhttps://wineeconomist.com/2010/07/27/wanted-retail-wine-therapy/#comment-1223
Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:51:55 +0000http://wineeconomist.com/?p=2100#comment-1223‘Twas ever thus. Here in Australia, it is effectively impossible to find South African wines-despite there being hundreds of good value to great wines on offer. Most, I believe, are destined for the UK market. US wines are few and far between as well….and not even any Chateau St. Michelle. sigh…..
]]>By: stayingforteahttps://wineeconomist.com/2010/07/27/wanted-retail-wine-therapy/#comment-1222
Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:56:58 +0000http://wineeconomist.com/?p=2100#comment-1222This reminds me of a rather disappointing experience from two weeks ago here in Bogotá, Colombia. I had a wine-loving friend visiting from Peru and so I purchased two tickets to the big annual wine expo (ExpoVino), which was supposed to feature wines from six countries, including the US. I thought I might have better luck finding a few nice California or Washington wines that I’ve been missing than I have had in the local supermarkets. But, to my chagrin, only low end Beringer, Kendal Jackson, and Robert Mondavi were available – same as the supermarkets. This has been a bit of mystery to me because there is such a large variety of good middle- and high-end wine available from Chile, Argentina, Spain, France, and to a lesser extent, Italy. Why can the rest of the world export a full range of good wine to Colombia, but the US, the world’s largest exporter (when you count both goods and services), can’t seem to get anything but the most ham-fisted bulk production wines out the door?
]]>By: CGGhttps://wineeconomist.com/2010/07/27/wanted-retail-wine-therapy/#comment-1221
Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:41:33 +0000http://wineeconomist.com/?p=2100#comment-1221I am a bit surprised you wrote at length on this subject without mentioning HR 5034, a bill pending in the US congress that will allow states to treat out-of-state wines differently (over turning the 2005 S. Ct. case Granholm v. Heald). Books are treated differently than alcohol not only in a regulatory structure, but in our constitution. And this is a key difference going forward. The reason why there isn’t an amazon.com for wine, unfortunately, is more legal then economic.